HARDY PERENNIAL
Old roots nourish fresh flowering.
Ancient ways partner modern ideas.
Timeless wisdom guides timely action.A rootless plant soon shrivels.
Unfooted buildings totter.
Unsound policies fail.
From hastening ahead, the way is lost.
Resting in Tao, the path becomes clear.
The sage is a navigator.
Old as the stars?
Renewed as dawn.
Fresh as a daisy!
'If it
ain't broke, don't fix it' goes some way towards expressing
the concept of 'non-action', an essential constituent of
Tao's philosophy.
'Beware
what you wish for' is another aspect of this, cautioning
against changes which might cause excessive disturbance
or imbalance.
Tao
implies a body of natural principles and tendencies
which are eternal and immutable - though not readily
understandable or explicable!
Developments in harmony with these
tend to progress and flourish, but those in
discord arouse opposition
and become mired in difficulty.
